With the crisis associated with diminishing amounts of fossil fuel and the rapidly increasing prices for this fuel, there has been a great deal of interest in reducing the amount of fuel consumed by automobile engines, and the like.
Thus, there is a great need to find lubricants that reduce the overall friction in the engine, thus reducing the energy requirements thereto.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,201,684 teaches lubricating oils containing sulfurized fatty acid amides, esters or ester-amides of alkoxylated amines, which reduce friction between sliding metal surfaces in internal combustion engines.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,209,410 teaches lubricating oils containing hydroxyalkyl sulfides. The additives are taught to improve the anti-wear properties of the resulting compositions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,225,449 teaches lubricating oils containing aliphatic hydrocarbylsulfonylalkanol or aliphatic hydrocarbylsulfinylalkanols, which reduce friction resulting in improved fuel economy in internal combustion engines.
Lubricating oil compositions as herein described possess excellent oxidation and corrosion inhibiting properties as well as excellent dispersion, wear and frictional properties.
It has now been found that lubricating the crankcase of an internal combustion engine with a lubricating oil containing sulfur-containing alkane diols reduce the fuel consumption of the engine.